We couldn’t wait to start our 14-day fabulous Romanian road trip, round-trip from Bucharest, Romania to see famous castles, learn more about Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), drive the world’s best road, hike 3 days on the Via Transilvanica trail, explore the Danube Delta, sunbath on the Black Sea and see all the UNESCO medieval cities. We share our complete itinerary, the costs, tips, and don’t misses, including some of the vegetarian foods we ate along the way.
To keep the suspense at bay, here’s a Romanian road trip map of the route we drove. It’s interactive and you can share it to your phone for your own use.
Day 1 Bucharest to Brașov
We arrived on a late-night Ryan Air flight from Athens and slept in a bit at Hilton Garden Inn, just a short 6-minute walk from the airport. Waking up to sunny skies, I looked to see where to pick up our rental car that we’d booked through DiscoverCars ($110 for 14 days!). DiscoverCars was great because it gave me a variety of options and vendors to pick from.
I could either return to the airport to catch the free shuttle or walk to the car rental desk. Fortunately, the rental desk’s walk was just 3 minutes from the hotel. Checking in, I quickly picked up our Dacia, which we soon named Contessa Carpathia–she was the perfect car for the hills, dales, valleys, and summits we’d traverse over the next 16 days (minus the 3 days she was parked while we hiked.)
We picked a rental car over trying to piece together an itinerary of busses and trains because we wanted the flexibility to get off the beaten track in Romania, see some hidden gems in northern Romania, and make some modifications along the way if necessary.
We headed straight for the Peleș Castle, one of the best castles I’ve ever visited. Filled with period antiques and originals and stories of Romania’s royalty, our guided tour pointed out features we’d have missed on our own. The 45 minute tour was well worth the $25 entry. Be sure to book your tickets online for the allocated time slot. A lunch of beet salad with horseradish and a lovely vegetarian soup at the restaurant on site satisfied our need for tasting some local Romanian food.
An Evening in Brașov
We arrived in Brașov in the early evening, checking into another cute family-run inn, Casa Cranta. It sat just above the city, so a walk down the hill past the Bohemian painted doors revived our legs from the drive. We pulled out the free GPSMyCity app (but buy the premium subscription because it’s totally worth it) and did the city walk, starting at the City/County buildings and making our way to the centro, cathedral, and the funnest location, Europe’s narrowest alley! I especially loved walking into the county library and seeing the old card catalog still in use! Swoon!!!
We walked all over town trying to get the best shot of the Brașov Hollywood’esque sign, then finally found some dinner. Who wouldn’t love polenta topped with sour cream and cheese? How much time should you spend in Brașov? Next time we come to Brașov, we’ll spend at least two days in this great town.
Day 2 Brașov to Viradaru
On day 2, we had Dracula on the brain and couldn’t wait to get to Bran Castle made famous by Bram Stoker in his book, Dracula. We had no idea the story was made up and based on the life of Vlad the Impaler or that the castle actually has some very interesting history about Romanian royalty. Unlike our visit to Peleș Castle the day before which included a guide, we meandered through Bran Castle on our own, following the directional signs up the hill and through the castle.
Inside, the story of Queen Maria lays out her family’s rise, fall, flee, and return to Romania. I found her story much more interesting than that of Dracula’s, but the visit certainly satisfied both the fictional and non-fictional stories of this famous landmark. For about $20 a piece, we found the meander worth the money.
A Night at Viradaru
After enjoying our rendezvous with Dracula and Marie, we pointed Contessa toward Viradaru dam. We wanted to position ourselves for a fabulous drive on our third day. On the way to Viradaru, the bears showed up! Not only did we see one giant brown bear along the road, we also came across a mama bear and her two babies. All of them sat along the side of the road, just waiting for handouts. Apparently people drive by and hand them food from outside their car windows. Don’t do this!!! Don’t feed the bears (as the many signs stated while we drove to Viradaru!)
We stayed at the gorgeous Hotel Posada where there was free parking, a delicious buffet breakfast, and views of the lake from our balcony!
Day 3 Viradaru to Cluj-Napoca via Transfăgărășan
The driving enthusiast inside of us couldn’t resist driving the world’s best road to drive, the Transfăgărășan highway. The twisty, turny road, featured on Top Gear to some controversy, invited Contessa and us to a thrilling ride up and over the Carpathian Mountains by way of exciting views.
We left the hotel to give us plenty of time to enjoy the drive. Getting in to our groove, each hairpin turn brought us higher up the mountain to the summit to see yet another gorgeous view down the valleys. Surprisingly, the drive felt a bit like the beginning of the Blue Ridge Highway, then it reminded us of the drive up Mt Evans/Blue Sky in Colorado. Nary much traffic and never a bumper rider behind us, the thrill of edgy turns and cliff-falling overhangs were punctuated by seeing a herd of sheep and their sheepherder summit the mountain as we did.
We can’t recommend the Transfăgărășan enough.
The drive, though, was quite exhausting. We made our way to Sibiu for lunch. Grabbing another free walk from GPSMyCity, we meandered through this walled city to see its famous “eye” city. Roof lines, popping with ventilation bumps that look like eyeballs watching you, has grown famous. We can “see” why!
A Night in Cluj-Napoca
You’d think we’d be too exhausted after driving through the mountains and visiting Sibiu to get out and enjoy Cluj-Napoca. But with just a few precious hours in this gorgeous city, we couldn’t resist stretching our legs a bit more. One the opening night of the Transylvania International Film Festival, we ventured into town. Loaded with architectural gems and situation along a lovely river, Cluj-Napoca surprised us by the amount of people milling about and the draw of the Film Festival. Sadly, the only film we would be able to catch started at 10:00 pm, and we simply were too tired to enjoy it. But we did enjoy walking around the town and grabbing a falafel for dinner and staying at the well-hosted Villa Hotel Escala.
Day 4 Cluj-Napoca to Criţ
We were ready for some goofiness and found the perfect stop on the way to Criţ. In the bump on the map town of Turda, known for its long history of salt mining, we found that we could visit a salt mine. But this wasn’t any mine tour! 10 floors down into the earth, Turda’s salt mine hosts an amusement park, complete with a lake for row boats, a carousel, billiard tables, and mini golf! Plus, you get to yell into an echo chamber, see the intricate designs of salt veins, and learn about the history of salt mining in Romania. Usually ones to avoid what we think will be tourist traps, we dove right in! Spending about $25 for the two of us, we explored the Salina Turda for about two hours. Don’t miss it.
A Night in Criţ
So why were we going to Criţ for the night, a tiny village with a couple of inns, a bodega, and one place to eat? Because we were positioning ourselves for the next 3 days of hiking on the Via Transilvanica trail. Our wonderful family-run inn, Casa de Vacata, not only had a comfy king-sized bed, but they would let us park Contessa for 4 days for free while we hiked. And just outside our door was the trailhead for the first segment of our 3-day hike.
Day 4-7 Hiking the Via Transilvanica Trail from Criţ to Sighișoara
From days 4-7, we hiked the Via Transilvanica Trail from Criţ to Sighișoara. For all the details about the hike, see our blog post.
Day 7 Sighișoara to Sighetu Marmației
After a night in the Double Tree in Sighișoara with a great buffet breakfast, we loaded up Contessa and headed north. We’d have a long way to drive on that day and saw it as a transition day to just enjoy the scenery. Driving in Romania through the mountains requires patience. It’s slow going through every country town where horse-drawn carriages maintain the right-of-way, and box trucks and semis transverse the country. I felt like we drove in third gear the entire time. Google’s map did great taking us as directly as we could, but it’s slow.
The Romanian roads are mostly in good shape, and if they aren’t, there are construction crews everywhere. We felt as though Romania had gotten an influx of EU Euros to upgrade its roads, and they’re doing it as quickly as they can. It’d be nice to see more places to stop and pull over. Our refuge every 2-3 hours often was either a gas station that also served as a truck stop or a random picnic table where we ate our road provisions gathered from Lidl.
We had big goals for the day: to enjoy the Merry Cemetery, to visit the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and to the Resistance, and to cross the border to Ukraine. By the time we got into town, we decided to go straight to Ukraine.
An Afternoon in Ukraine
Last summer, we spent the month of August in Riga, Latvia, and we volunteered at an English Exchange with Ukranian refugees. We promised them that if we ever got a chance to go to Ukraine, we would. This was our chance. So we figured out how to go to Ukraine.
We parked the car near the border, grabbed our passports, cleared Romanian immigration, and walked across the rickety, one-lane bridge to Ukraine with a handful of other pedestrians going about their day. At the Ukrainian border, we easily crossed and then met a taxi driver. We had seen on Google that there was an old Jewish cemetery and synagogue not far away. We got a 10-minute ride.
At the cemetery, it pleased us to find a well-kept cemetery with headstones in good condition. Using Google translate, we read the Hebrew and said family names outloud, placing stones appropriately. Afterward, we walked to the old synagagoue, now an abaonded building that’s for sale. Finally, we walked into town to the local bodega to get some ice cream and talk to whomever we could. We wanted to share a message of hope and peace; it was gratefully received by everyone we met. We then walked back through immigration, two hours later.
Whilst we felt safe the entire time and did not see any evidence of war, war machines or soldiers, as we were crossing back across the border two fighter jets flew over us and took a right. They were clearly patrolling the airspace above Ukraine.
Back in Contessa, we drove ten minutes to our hotel in the center of town, City Rooms for a reflective night. We never made it to the Merry Cemetery and will have to keep that nice idea for next time.
Day 8 Sighetu Marmației to Ciumani
Before leaving town, we had another great breakfast that included a blueberry smoothie at our hotel. We did make it to the haunting Communist Memorial, spending an hour inside (about $10 for two.) Then we pointed Contessa to the town of Ciumani. Along the way, we passed several fo the famous wooden monasteries of Romania.
We stopped in at the Bârsana Monastery. Holy moly, what a complex. Wooden temples shot to the sky, decorated by an abundance of flowers and roses (which we’d see all over Romania.) With roots back to the 1390s and rebuilt/restored, this Maramures region monastery surprised us in every way. It seemed like a cross between a Saxon village and a Thai buddist colony. The price was right, too. Free!
A Night in Ciumani
After another long day of driving south to get us closer to the Black Sea, we stayed the night in Ciumani at Borsika panzió, another farmstay. Prior to our dinner of stuffed cabbage leaves and trout (a rare divirgence from our vegetarian eats) we heard bells chiming every half an hour from the local church, so we investigated. Decorated in a lush floral pattern with petals, the walkway to the church honored a local saint. From the church, petals strewn across the street and around the town invited us to meander through this conservative Roman Orthodox village. The next day would be their Christian Music festival.
And we finally got a picture of one of the hundreds of stork nests we’d seen throughout Romania.
Day 9 Ciumani to Bacău
If you watched our youtube about hiking the Via Transilvanica trail, you’ll know we met a wonderful family on the trail. They told us two things; one, you must see the Danube Delta. Two, you must call us when you get to Bacău. So we headed to Bacău to accmomplish both of those things. Along the way on Day 9 of our road trip in Romania, we broke up the drive by taking advantage of all the nature along the way.
We stopped at Red Lake. Created by a landslide during an earthquake in the 1800s, Red Lake attracts Romanians who want a nice nature getaway. We stopped for a 3 mile hike around the lake. The fresh air and lake views felt a bit like Hanging Lake in Colorado, although not at the high altitude. A picnic lunch overlooking folks rowing boats provided us a relaxing break from Contessa.
After lunch, we drove the short 10 miles to Bicaz Gorge. It is in the central part of the Hășmaș Mountains, and is part of the Cheile Bicazului-Hășmaș National Park. A bit like the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado, too, we felt a bit of homesickness enjoying the towering cliffs, pines and cedars, and fresh air of the mountains.
A Night in Bacău
Three days of hard driving had us staying the night in when we got to Bacău. Steve and I had to fight each other over the giant soaking tub in our hotel room at the C&C Residence Hotel. We even ordered in food from Bolt Food. I was craving green! A lovely pesto with broccoli and a salad fit the bill. The next morning, we got kidnapped!
Day 10 Bacău to Brăila
We wanted a short driving day, so we had another hotel-provided breakfast to get ready to leave. Then suddenly, my WhatsApp chimed with a message from the father of the family we met while hiking (read the post.) He just had to take us to coffee at the best coffee place in Bacău, his home town. Meet me in the parking lot, he demanded.
So we loaded up Contessa, and in comes our friend, disco music blaring, steam coming off his wheels. Jump in! Let’s go. Off we zip to the famous coffee house on the famous waterway next to the famous house that Ceaușescu, the communist, had built! Meet his many friends that walk by! Take a picture! Drive us back to our hotel! Oh, and by the way, gift us a numbered bottle of wine made for his Order of the Knights of Wine! Check off on his list of Take Americans to Coffee! And great to meet you! Whew!!!
By noon, we were on the road to a place Steve had to see. In the 15th century, Steven the Great with the aid of his cousin, Vlad the Impaler, came to town on his way to the throne. A bridge in his name remained. So off-the-beaten path in Romania we went, down a dirt road to a hidden obelisk of the famous bridge. Steve posed with Steven, we had a nice picnic lunch, and then finished our day in Brăila.
An Evening in Brăila
Brăila sits on the Danube River. In the evening, we grabbed some traditional food at Heavens, then meandered along the riverfront, enjoying the wonderful fountains and families out ambling by. The hotel, the Porto Franco, offered us a suite and breakfast the next morning. It was a great way to relax into the evening.
Day 11 Brăila to Constanța
We made a reservation to take a boat ride to the bird colony on the Danube Delta. Many boats await passers-by for a ride on this UNESCO site, and you can probably just walk up and down the waterfront until you find one that works for you. We found ours online for a 12:00 pm launch. Surprisingly, the speed boat was full!
The 2-hour ride took us through the narrow canals of the delta, past delta homes of fisherman, and into the water lily patch. While there, we awed at the finesse of over 100 Danube Pelicans coming in for a landing. Their crazy feet peddled in the sky to position their massive bodies to plunk down into the water. I’ve never seen that many pelicans descend, and we enjoyed every minute of every landing (watch our youtube video of the footage!)
An Evening on Constanța
Our day ended in Constanța at the JMR Royal Hotel. When we walked into the room, I swore a Czarina had lived there. With flourishes on the ceiling, chandeliers in the bedroom, chaise loungers in the living room, and gold faucets in the bathroom, I told Steve we weren’t leaving. But we did. A meander through the old town to the waterfront to the beach for sunset captured the romanic vibe of a beach weekend in Romania.
One noteworthy comment about the night in Constanta. We wanted to some comfort food and saw a place called King Tacos. I ordered the vegetarian taco, and I got served something that was far from expectation. Inside a tortilla, I found falafel, french fries, a gooey sauce and cheddar cheese. The entire thing was baked and topped with more cheddar. Later, my friend Sheri Bjornson turned me onto this crazy history of the French Tacos, which apparently, is exactly what I ate in Romania. A picture is below of this rather successful marriage between panini, kebab, and burrito.
Day 12 Constanța to Bucharest
On our final day of our road trip through Romania, we made the very easy drive from the beach at Constanța back to Bucharest where we had started our Romanian road trip. We dropped Contessa back off at her home with the rental car agency in Bucharest that we found through DiscoverCars, then we took the bus into town. Yet again, we stayed at another darling hotel, the Monaco Boutique Hotel, with a wonderful breakfast that included chef-inspired omelettes!
And like our other times in big cities, we pulled up the GPSMyCity tour of Bucharest. We added the Jewish Neighborhood to the walk so we’d be sure to see the Choral Synagogue and Memorial. Walking through historic Jewish neighborhoods is important to us and often overlooked in walking guides. Although the day was quite hot, we still managed to see the Parliament, Union Square, Lipscani Street, Stavropoleos Convent, the National Military Circle, Bucharest’s oldest bookstore, Revolution Square and the Atheneum.
We then joined our friends to drink the bottle of wine gifted to us by our Romanian friends we met while hiking. Dinner of more polenta at the local cafe near their Airbnb finished our time in Romania, a place we fell in love with.
How We’d Change Our Romanian Road Trip Itinerary
In summary, the itinerary looked like this:
Day 1: Bucharest to Brașov
Day 2: Brașov to Viradaru
Day 3: Viradaru to Cluj-Napoca via Transfăgărășan
Day 4: Cluj-Napoca to Criţ
[Day 5-7: Hiking Via Transilvanica]
Day 7: Sighișoara to Sighetu Marmației
Day 8: Sighetu Marmației to Ciumani
Day 9: Ciumani to Bacău
Day 10: Bacău to Brăila
Day 11: Brăila to Constanța
Day 12: Constanța to Bucharest
If you don’t hike, this is a 14-day road trip. Now having done the trip, I’d make some recommendations for anyone wanting to do this trip. If you’re a hiker, absolutely do the hiking; otherwise leave it out (obviously.) There was just a bit too much geography in this road trip, and by the time we returned to Bucharest, we were exhausted.
Where to Spend Extra Nights
I’d spend the night in Sibiu (we did not.) If you don’t want to go to Ukraine, go from Sighișoara to Ciumani, bypassing the trip north to Ukraine. This took about 10 hours of time, and the Memorial to the Communist wasn’t that outstanding. The one in Bucharest is better. But, if you do want to go to Ukraine, make sure you save time for Merry Cemetery. I’m sorry we missed it. If you do want to go to Ukraine on the northern border like we did, stay two nights in Sighetu Marmatiei.
Take a Danube Delta Cruise
I wouldn’t spend much time in Bacău, instead spend more time in Brăila. Although we only did 2 hours on the Danube Delta, I think it would be fun to do an overnight cruise on the Danube. Perhaps there’s one that also goes to Ukraine and Moldova via access from the Danube River. That would be a fun way to see two additional countries without the 10 hour trip up to Ukraine from Sighișoara.
Beach Time on the Black Sea
We weren’t that thrilled by Constanța, as we just aren’t sit-on-the beach people. If you are, stay there two days. The waterfront is quite dramatic and we definitely underestimated the amount of history to digest in the area. It was the first area in Romania where we felt the Turkish and Muslim influence. I’m sure the impact of those cultures would be fun to explore in Constanța.
Romanian Food for Vegans/Vegetarians
Finding vegan food in Romania was down-right almost impossible once we got out of the big cities. Although we could find Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, and Mexican in larger areas, once we got out into the country, the only choices we could find for restaurants was simply Bulgarian food.
Although every menu had salads, including beetroot and horseradish, Greek salads, and varies pickled cabbage options and menus always had polenta (made with dairy and topped with sour cream and cheese), we would have absolutely starved as vegans. Granted, we could find fruits such as cherries, nectarines, apples and bananas and nuts were plentiful, especially hazelnuts, making real meals from the bodegas along the way was exhausting.
We made many trips to Lidl to create picnics. Often in other countries, we could find frozen Buddha-style bowls; the problem was that none of our hotels had microwaves where we could heat frozen food or make baked potatoes. Thus, we ate vegetarian and even a few pieces of fish along the way. If you like sausages, chicken, pork and many other animals parts like chicken hearts, pork cheeks, or liver/brains, you could eat well in Romania. Potatoes, also, were plentiful in a variety of ways.
The Price of our Romanian Road Trip
Total price of our Romanian Road Trip breaks out like this:
Hotels (16 nights, we booked 4 nights with Chase points) $800
Food (lots of Lidl stops, many hotels included breakfast) $300
Tickets (castles, museums) $60
Transportation (Bolt/Uber/Bus/Taxi/Danube) $120
Car Rental (Rental–$110, Gas–$150) $260
Approximate cost of 14-day Romanian Road trip with 3 days of hiking included: $1540
The Perfect Romanian Road Trip
So if you bypass the Ukraine portion of the trip, spend more time on the water at Brăila and Constanța. But if you want to see Ukraine and you’re not a beach person, spend an extra day in Sighetu Marmatiei so you can also enjoy more of the wooden monasteries in the Maramureș area. If you skip the hiking, this is the perfect roadtrip itinerary, just adjust the nights in Sibiu and Brăila.
Hikers: Follow the itinerary, but either go to Ukraine or Brăila/Constanța but not both.
Beach lovers: Follow the itineary, but don’t hike.
Ukraine lovers: Follow the itinerary, or look into going to Ukraine from the Danube Delta.
We hope this perfect road trip through Romania satisfies your curiosity about this great country. From medieval cities to soaring mountains, roaring rivers, and dramatic coast lines, Romania has everything anyone could ever want in a compact European road trip.
Chris Englert, the Walking Traveler, believes walking is the platform for life. Wanderlusting since the age of 5, she’s since traveled all 50 US states and 62 countries. Chris shares her love of walking while traveling via blogs, books, and presentations. A natural storyteller, she invites you along as she explores the world, one walk at a time.
Currently, Chris and her husband, Steve, travel the world, full-time as nomads, with just their two carry-ons. They’ve been traveling since May, 2021.